The New York Jets played a sloppy game against the Miami Dolphins in Week Nine and lost 27-23. They now stand at 3-6 on the season and will head home to play the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The Jets have now solidified themselves as a punching bag for most NFL teams and future wins won’t come easily. However, if the Jets can adhere to the following Week Ten keys, they may be able to pick up win number four on the season.
New York Jets Week Ten Keys to Victory
If Fitz Falters, Put in Petty
All the blame can’t be put on Ryan Fitzpatrick for the way the Jets have played last week and the weeks prior. For example, if the Jets special teams could tackle the Dolphins kick returner before he ran 96 yards for a touchdown, things may have been completely different.
However, Fitz does carry a lot of the blame. Last week the Jets had a great scoring opportunity while in the red zone. He threw a critical pick in that crucial spot. He also threw another pick in the game which raised his season total to a league-high 13 interceptions.
Whether Bryce Petty is ready or not shouldn’t matter at this point. The Jets have virtually no path to the playoffs and Fitzpatrick most likely won’t be back next year. This is the best time to start Petty. Not only is it the best time to evaluate him, but at this point you can’t really have a quarterback play worse than Fitzpatrick.
While it is unlikely Petty gets the start unless Fitzpatrick’s injury is worse than expected, the moment he starts playing badly is the moment Petty should come in.
The Jets Can’t Beat Themselves
Last week is a great example of how the Jets beat themselves. The Jets were leading in the fourth quarter until nobody on special teams could tackle Kenyan Drake as he returned a kickoff for 96 yards with 5:15 left on the clock. It is a gaffe like this which has led to some close losses for the Jets this season.
The Jets face a somewhat equal opponent in the Rams who are 3-5 on the season. The Jets are talented enough to win this game, but they have to make sure they can at least do the bare minimum against the Rams.
That includes not missing tackles like last week, not botching up punts like Week Seven, and not missing extra points like in Week One. Two of those three scenarios have been the difference in the win column. That means as long as the Jets didn’t beat themselves, they could’ve been at least 5-5 at the moment.
Pick Off Keenum
It has been stated many times that Fitzpatrick leads the NFL in interceptions. Right below Fitzpatrick in the interception column sits Rams quarterback Case Keenum with 11.
The Jets are 31st in the NFL with a -11 takeaway differential. That is exactly the same as their differential in 2014 when they finished 4-12, but very different from their +6 differential in 2015 when they finished 10-6.
Simply put, the Jets will win games if they limit their turnovers and force turnovers from their opponents. There is no guarantee that Fitzpatrick will limit the interceptions on his part so the Jets defense has to do their part instead.
Keenum is obviously susceptible to the interception as was mentioned before. If the Jets take advantage of that and pick him off a time or two, a win is much more possible.
